# غلام
## Arabic
### Etymology

From the root غ ل م (ḡ l m). Compare Hebrew עֶלֶם (ʿélem, “a virgin boy”).

### Noun

غُلَام • (ḡulām) m (plural غِلْمَان (ḡilmān) or غِلْمَة (ḡilma) or أَغْلِمَة (ʔaḡlima), feminine غُلَامَة (ḡulāma))
* a young male human, a boy-child
    Synonyms: صَبِيّ (ṣabiyy), فَتًى (fatan), شَابّ (šābb)
    Coordinate terms: صَبِيَّة (ṣabiyya), فَتَاة (fatāh), شَابَّة (šābba), (archaic) جَارِيَة (jāriya)
** 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 19:7:يَا زَكَرِيَّا إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلَامٍ ٱسْمُهُ يَحْيَىٰyā zakariyyā ʔinnā nubašširuka biḡulāmin smuhu yaḥyāZakariyyāh, we bring you the good news of a boy whose name shall be Yaḥyāh.
** 10th century, Al-Mutanabbi
    فَرُبَّ غُلَامٍ عَلَّمَ الْمَجْدَ نَفْسَهُ كَتَعْلِيمِ سَيْفِ الدَّوْلَةِ الطَّعْنَ وٱلضَّرْبَا(please add an English translation of this quotation)
* a boy-servant; a slave-boy

#### Usage notes

The feminine of this word is now very rare, being instead replaced by صَبِيَّة (ṣabiyya) or its synonyms.

#### Descendants

* → Bengali: গোলাম (gōlam)
* → English: ghulam
* → Hindi: ग़ुलाम (ġulām)
* → Northern Kurdish: xulam
* → Ottoman Turkish: غلام (gulâm)
* → Persian: غُلام (ğolâm)
* → Rohingya: gulam
* → Swahili: ghulamu
* → Tajik: ғулом (ġulom)
* → Urdu: غُلام (ġulām)

## Persian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic غُلَام (ḡulām).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Persian) IPA: [ɣu.ˈlɑːm]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [ɣʊ.lɑ́ːm]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [ɣʊ.lɑ́ːm]
** (Kabuli) IPA: [ɣʊ.lɑ́ːm]
** (Hazaragi) IPA: [ɣu.lɔ́ːm]
* (Iran, formal) IPA: [qo.lɒ́ːm]
* (Tajik, formal) IPA: [ʁu.lɔ́m]

### Noun

| Dari | غلام |
| Iranian Persian | غلام |
| Tajik | ғулом |
غُلام • (ğolâm) (plural غلمان)
* servant, slave
    Synonyms: بَرْدِه (barde), بَنْدِه (bande), عَبْد ('abd)
** c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume I, verse 3985:من غلام موج آن دریای نور که چنین گوهر بر آرد در ظهورman ğulām-i mawj ān daryā-i nūr ki čūnīn gawhar ārad dar zuhūrI am the slave of the billow of that Sea of Light which brings a pearl like this into view.(Classical Persian transliteration)

## Urdu
### Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian غلام (ğulām), from Arabic غُلَام (ḡulām). First attested in c. 1503 as Middle Hindi غلام (ġlam /⁠ġulām⁠/).

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Urdu) IPA: /ɣʊ.lɑːm/
* Rhymes: -ɑːm
* Hyphenation: غُ‧لام

### Noun

غُلام • (ġulām) m (formal plural غُلَامَان (ġulāmān), Hindi spelling ग़ुलाम)
* slave
* servant (of a more pious person)
    Synonym: خادِم (xādim)
* (archaic) boy, young man
* (card games) knave, jack
* (figuratively) an obedient person

#### See also

Playing cards in Urdu · تاش (tāś) (layout · text) :
| اِکّا (ikkā) | دُکّا (dukkā) | تِکّا (tikkā) | چَوکا (caukā) | پَن٘جا (pañjā) | چَھکّا (chakkā) | سَتّا (sattā) |
| اَٹّھا (aṭṭhā) | نَہْلا (nahlā) | دَہْلا (dahlā) | غُلام (ġulām) | بیگَم (begam) | بادْشاہ (bādśāh) | جوکَر (jokar) |

### References

* ↑ “غلام”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.

### Further reading

* “غلام”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
* Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “غلام”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]